Author's Note: This chapter is dedicated to marzipanlimpet, who left the comment in the prologue about Old Gods and New Tricks. Thanks for the title inspiration!

Song for this Chapter: November Rain by Guns N Roses. It's not November in the story, but these lines are perfect for Cernunnos and Cerridwen's final argument: And when your fears subside/And shadows still remain, oh yeah/I know that you can love me/When there's no one left to blame/So never mind the darkness/We still can find a way/'Cause nothin' lasts forever/Even cold November rain

Cernunnos' POV

To be a dead man, Finn is surprisingly talkative. As we walk, he tells me everything in a flat, neutral voice. How Mercury and Trivia created a bubble under my ward with spirits, how Apollo and Diana abducted him and Lana, how Mercury tortured Lana mercilessly and forced Finn to bring Sean, how many godspawn are attending Mercury, and as much as he understands of Mercury and Trivia's plans for Cerridwen, Lana and Sean.

"He doesn't think he can kill you, you know." Finn finishes. "He thinks your divinity is more enduring, though not as  acutely strong as his. That's why he wants you to submit willingly."

I don't know what death really means to a god. All the times I was dead, I was unaware, but obviously I still existed, because Cerridwen brought me back, and each time, I was all that I ever had been before. But I don't tell Finn the truth that I do know—that the Romans most certainly can obliterate my mortal form in this plane.

A secret I never told anyone: every time I sacrificed myself, at the very end, I changed my mind. I wanted to live, I wanted Cerridwen, I wanted to see our child born. But it was too late. I had lost too much lifeblood. I didn't have the strength to reach up and stop the scythe blows.

Jupiter channels the power of the other Roman gods for acts like his lightening bolts.Perhaps one Roman god alone is not enough to overpower me, but Mercury, Apolla, and Diana together? It's a toss-up for sure. And when my mortal form dies, and Cerridwen is mortal, and there is no one's immortality for her to sacrifice for me, there will be no way for me to return to the wheel of life.

I don't tell Finn any of this.

Instead, I lie to this mortal I no longer trust. "Of course he cannot kill me, unless I bare my throat before him. But you have put me in a helluva position, Roman. Who do I save first? Because I cannot save them all, and if Cerridwen has been rendered vulnerable..."

"Then she's your only priority. I understand," he says simply, and I know he does. Lana was his only priority in this...her moment to moment. He doesn't have a god's eye to look at the longer picture. He's only mortal, and he couldn't take her pain. Suddenly, I feel pity for him. If Lana dies horribly, perhaps death would be a kinder a fate for him, than to live with the belief that she died because of his actions. I know what separation from your one true love is like.

Shit, suddenly I realize, I can't have Finn with me inside this ghost bubble. He's an unpredictable liability. He knows me better than most mortals; he may betray me in some way yet, if Lana is at stake. Worse, pity for him and Lana may make me hesitate in some crucial moment. If I'm going to kill James Finn, it's better to do it now, than take the chance that he may interfere with me saving Cerridwen. I no longer need him to lead the way. I can smell the despair of the unhappily risen spirits.

"I can track the ghosts from here," I say softly. "Your services are no longer required, James Finn."

Ahead of me, he stops and turns, meeting my gaze.

"Kneel," I say. The quickest death is a snapped neck, but he is very strong for a mortal. I'll need the leverage of being above him.

He is pale. He knows what's coming. "I'd rather stand, if that's ok. It doesn't have to be painless. Knife to the heart is fine."

I probably would have done it, too, but then Finn pulls his own hunting knife from his boot and offers it to me. Godsdamn fucking brave mortal.

So I find myself grabbing him by the collar. "I've decided to let the Questing Beast decide your fate. It's time for you to tag out Sucellus. Fight for your life, and I will fight for Lana's." He opens his mouth and I growl at him. "Do not speak one fucking syllable of protest or I will plant you in the ground all the way up to your head and let the creatures nibble your lips and nose off. I forgive you, James Finn, but you are completely and utterly mine, from this moment until one of us no longer exists. Do you understand?"

He looks shocked. Absolutely blown away. Of course he does. He's been raised by Romans. Forgiveness is not in their repertoire. Finally , he manages to utter, "Yes, my Lord."

Finn's blade is sharp, but I'm sure it still hurts like hell when I rip his sleeve off and score his Roman tattoo until it is unrecognizable. He doesn't flinch. I grasp his wrist. My symbol appears there.

"Don't worry. I like Lana a helluva alot more than Faraday. If I have to make a choice..." I grin as I shrug. He's mostly too overwhelmed by all this to react, he's just holding his new mark, feeling my power for the first time. I give him his knife back.

"Go be a hero, James Finn."

"Yes, my Lord," he says, but now the overwhelm is being replaced by fire, and conviction. "Yes," he repeats. "Yeah!" he nearly shouts. I slap him gently on the jaw, unmaking him and sending him to Sucellus. Stag, I hope it's not the last time I ever see that kid.

I travel the distance more quickly now, and in minutes I'm there. I can't see a thing, but I can smell the dead directly in front of me. Cerridwen is right; Trivia is a clever witch. I walk slowly forward and the world changes to night. For one millisecond I am disoriented by the keening of the damn ghosts, but I take everything in quickly. Lana and Sean in cages. Apollo and Diana and eight stinking godspawn with weapons, looking bored. Trivia—one of her aspects dead. Cerridwen must have done that. Mercury, his back to me, leaning over.

All at once, they are aware of me, and Mercury whips around.

My heart stops, for the space of one, two, three beats, and then thunders to make up for it. The young girl that rises behind Mercury is no longer my Goddess. Her fierce eyes show me she is not without her witchcraft, but she is mortal, and in that moment I feel like the breakable one. One scratch upon her precious skin will shatter my heart.

Mercury laughs and shakes out a shimmery drape that I recognize at once as...me. That's our shared divinity, that I gave to Cerridwen time and time again, through acts of love. He chased her, held her down, and skinned her of my love like a kill.

Rage unlike I've ever known fires through me all at once. My bones ache with longing for vengeance. My horns throb to gore. I salivate for the taste of godblood.

"Careful, Cernunnos. If you don't control your temper, I'll kill one of your pets," Mercury says. Diana flashes into Sean's cage, and puts her hand over his heart. I have no doubt she'll pull it from his chest at a nod from Mercury, but I don't give a fuck. When gods wage war, humans die. It's always been this way.

I advance on Mercury. Two Roman godspawn foolishly move to intervene. I put the first fighter out of with swift thrust of my knife to his kidney. The second one fights harder, I kill him with the neck snap I had planned for Finn. Two more rush me and take them by the throats, considering. The deaths I just delivered were unsatisfying. Suddenly I have a real craving to crack these Romans open and lick their marrow, like I used to eat beasts, before I learned to roast the meat from my clever little human witch who did not eat raw flesh.

"Cernunnos!" that same little witch shouts. "No more!" Her eyes are on Sean. Diana's fingers are merging into his flesh, and he's straining not to scream from the pain. She claws at Mercury. "Max, please, please, please don't kill him. I'll do anything. Anything you want! Please!"

Mercury raises a hand to still Diana, who releases Sean. "Hear that, Cernunnos? Your goddess begs me. She has a new Lord now."

I throw the Romans to the ground, and stare at Cerridwen. She tosses her flaming hair at me, and glares at me. "You will stop raging like a beast and act like a god, Cernunnos. You will not fuck this up, do you hear me? Do what you always do, if you must, but you make sure you barter their lives, in this bargain."

Suddenly my rage has a new target. Cerridwen.

I walk right up to Mercury and snatch her from him. "I should bend you over my knee for this, Caer. I'm serious. And it would really hurt your precious little mortal behind, if I did so. He holds your immortality in his hand. In his fucking hand--and you just let him take it, didn't you? If I let him kill me, it leaves you at his mercy. Fucking hell! What am I supposed to do about that, huh?"

"I'll tell you—" Minimus blusters but Carrie cuts him off, pushing one hand in his face and poking me viciously in the chest.

Stag, love, not so hard, you might hurt those frail little fingers.

"You absolute hippocrite! Only you can sacrifice yourself for the mortals you love, is that it?"

"You never loved mortals before."

"Well, I love these two!" She throws her hands out wide, toward them. "So fucking save them, alright?"

"You love them more than me?" I say softly. "There's no way back for me this time, you realize."

"Exactly!" Mercury interjects, but we both ignore him again.

"I know. And of course I don't love them more than you," she says softly. "I'll be right behind you, won't I?" She gestures down her mortal form and smiles.

Oh my beautiful witch, you are so very brave.

"I can't do it," I say regretfully. "This is a New Wheel. I can't go to my knees before Mercury for two mortals, even ones such as these."

Her eyes light up with more fury than I ever remember. She grabs my horns, and pulls my face close to hers. "Well, godsdammit, Cernnunos, why did you even come then!?!"

I give her the smile—you know the one—my brilliant modern movie star smile. "Isn't it obvious, love? I came to fight for you. I'll die for you gladly if I must, but I'll never leave you without a fight, ever again. Not even for a little while."

She pales beneath her freckles, and I laugh to see that. I had forgotten how she looked as a mortal girl, when I surprised her. It was the same thing that happened the first time I pulled her close, just before I put my mouth to hers for the very first time. She taught me the word for kiss after. I say the word to her now, in that harsh, long forgotten language, and she throws herself into my arms.

I kiss her roughly, and tenderly, then roughly again. Stag, it might be the very last time, and I can't decide how it should end.

A/N: Yikes! We are getting so close now! Please vote if you hate to see this little story end! The closer I get to the end, the sadder I am!